


Daddies Don't Just Love Their Children Every Now and Then

by DrKannibale



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Smoking, Worry, sad dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 17:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6019267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrKannibale/pseuds/DrKannibale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MacCready wakes up from a nightmare. Church is there to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daddies Don't Just Love Their Children Every Now and Then

He woke with a sharp intake of air, gasping as his blue eyes opened and were promptly glazed over by a film of tears.  
Settling down took a moment of catching his breath and willing his heart to a beat less erratic. Tonight proved no different than many, refusing the poor guy any relief from his traumatic past. Too many nights he had spent reliving the savage demise of his wife, torn apart by those _monsters_.

He moved in a slow and dragging manner, sitting up now with his legs over the edge of the creaking bed.  
With a heavy sigh the young man rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm, and afterward searched blindly for his pack of cigarettes and the gold plated flip lighter he kept in one of the pockets of his tattered trench coat, which had been tossed unceremoniously onto the floor hours before.  
Beside him on the dirtied mattress, another shifted restlessly. Before a proper drag of the cigarette could be attempted, the sleepless individual turned to meet freshly awoken brown eyes.

“Sorry, I uh… I can put it out.” The blonde muttered, reaching toward the ashtray that sat atop the nightstand.  
He received a short grunt in response, before his companion found his voice. “No, nah. You’re good. That is, as long as you’re willing to _share_ …”  
Robert MacCready returned the smirk he was given before retrieving another cigarette. “Of course, handsome. Though I wasn’t aware that you smoked.”  
“Nora never liked the smell. She would always bicker about how it lingered on my clothes and in the car. The poor girl never grew old of nagging me to death about lung cancer and wrinkling.” The man teased, smiling softly at the memory. Now more than ever he was beginning to appreciate even the petty conversations he had the privilege of sharing with his late wife. “But now I figure that there are worse things out there to worry over than what damage _these_ things can do.” He finished, sitting up beside Robert now.  
The mercenary nodded, “Yeah, ya learn to enjoy the small pleasures while you still can.”

A heavy moment of silence fell upon the pair, sitting in the darkness while the ticking of a canine’s nails dancing along the concrete ground. The soft hum of a generator outside could be heard if one was unaccustomed to the white noise of Sanctuary.

An arm soon found itself around the waist of MacCready, with Church leaning into the slight embrace, head rested on his partner’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, R.J.” He asked softly, as if hushed tones accompanied the cover and chill of night.  
It was comforting knowing somebody in this God forsaken wasteland took the time to care for him; that was part of what made loving the man so easy. Robert had mentioned that before.  
“I just… Hope I’m making the right decisions with Duncan.” MacCready sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes tightly, persuading tears from spilling. He appreciated the silence allowed by the sole survivor before Church offered his reply, “Why don’t you stay with him?”  
“Would that be any better?” The sniper frowned, finding more solace in the cigarette held loosely between his fingers. “I mean, for either of us, I just… I can’t, Church. I need to be out, I need to be doing _something_ out there.”  
He shifted about, turning to face the dark-haired man who had pulled away some. “I’ve been at this gig since I left Little Lamplight, this is who I _am_ now.”

The other man furrowed his brow, listening but finding some difficulty in sympathizing; he had been spit out into the Commonwealth with nothing but a blue jumpsuit and a stolen Pip-Boy, but _nothing_ mattered more to him than finding his son. He’d give up _anything_ to make sure that Shaun was okay.  
Robert seemed to comprehend this with simply a glance at Church Stanton’s expression and shook his head. “Look, you have to understand… I was young, I’m _still_ young, babe. I wasn’t ready to be a father. Hell, I’m not sure it was anything I ever even anticipated, not in this fu- Uh.” He stopped himself briefly, “…Not in _this_ place. I may have grown up on my own in the Capitol Wasteland, but knowing what’s out there… I’m scared. I’m so scared that I won’t be able to protect him, and I don’t know what I’d do if I had to… If I had to witness somethin’ like _that_ again.”

Church knew all _too_ well the hurt that his lover felt.  
Sometimes he forgot that MacCready was only 22 (compared to his own 31 years), and very clearly _shoved_ into fatherhood.

He ran a hand through the younger man’s blonde hair, always one to speak most sincerely with actions rather than words. “Nora and I never planned to have Shaun, either,” He continued as Robert responded silently, with a raised brow of interest, “He was the result of us fooling around at the park one day, we just wanted to, y'know… Spice things up a little!” His expertly placed infliction never failed to illicit the desired smile from his companion. “He wasn’t _exactly_ part of the agenda… But he was a gift nonetheless. I just want to know that I’m doing everything in my power to do what’s right for him.”  
“And that’s what _I_ want for Duncan, I…” The gun-for-hire soon found himself interrupted by a swift kiss.  
"I know." The culprit grinned, not ashamed of being found guilty, “We’ll just… Have to work together. Maybe it could lessen the load. Besides, I’m sure Shaun would _really_ enjoy having an older brother.” Church snuffed out his cigarette and pulled MacCready near him after the young man had done the same.

Not much else warmed him like the crooked smirk of the mercenary as they sank into the affectionate embraces of each other, drifting to sleep as they realized that perhaps, despite the tragedies that plagued them, not _everything_ was left rotten to the waste.

**Author's Note:**

> While I love being able to romance companions in Fallout 4, it all seems really fast-paced.  
> So, decided to write occasional short drabbles to fill in some gaps.
> 
> Feel free to comment/suggest here or on my tumblr (DrKannibale). Thanks!


End file.
